"There are smarter people than me out there who say that with every $10 the government has invested in horse racing, they get $100 back with gasoline sales, hotels, ferriers, feed for the horses...there's a lot of money. We're just not getting the support from the government here that they are in other places."

One of New Brunswick's top drivers has gone on the offensive, calling for his government to support the province's harness racing industry in the same mutually-beneficial manner as other provinces.

In an interview with CBC, Todd Trites recalled a time when New Brunswick's racing industry was strong.

"I grew up around the racetrack and I remember the Fredericton card, racing twice a week. They used to race Mondays and Thursdays," he recalled. "Saint John used to race Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Moncton raced Thursdays and Saturday nights."

No longer does New Brunswick have three tracks racing six days per week. Now, with a slashed schedule, tracks are struggling to fill just one card.

Trites points to the province's deal to place a casino not partnered to racing in Moncton as the turning point for harness racing in New Brunswick.

"We were hoping to make a deal to make that racino like they have in Summerside and Charlottetown over on [Prince Edward] Island where the horsemen get a percentage of the take off the casino," he recalls. "When that didn't take place we started taking steps backwards."

To listen to the full interview with CBC's Terry Seguin, click the play button below.